Vehicle-wheel.



PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906.

' amsoomv.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.30, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT ortica VEHICLE-WHEEL.

ivo. 831,384.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

Application filed October 30,1905. Serial Ila-285,000.

To .all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES THOMAS SOHOEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meylan, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a wheel designed to take the place and perform the functions of a wheel having a pneumatic tire and which will be free from the objections pertaining to pneumatic tires and, further, which may be manufactured at' less fist cost and repaired readilyT and economica y.

While the invention is herein shown and described as embodied in a wheel designed.

for a'motor-vehicle, it is to be understood, of

course, that it is applicable to any vehiclep wheel Where a rubber tire, and, in fact, any

other tire, is to be used.

The invention comprises, essentially, in its preferred form a disk of steel formed to represent spokes and adapted to receive a rubber or 'other tire and having a hub composed of an axle-receiving sleeve or axle-box and onf which a series ofcompression-springs, preferably rings of rubber, are mounted and confined against longitudinal movement, the

disk having applied to it a sleeve, between which and the springs tension devices are applied, so that the load is transmitted by the diskto the' springs and all shocks are taken up by the springs substantially as I will procee'd now more particularly to set forth and y finally claim.

Before proceeding to a description of the details of construction it is to be observed that prior to this invention so-called spring- Wheels have been designed in which Athe tire-bearing part of the wheel has had a ra dial movement with relation to that portion 'of the wheel or hub immediately receiving the axle and springs of various sorts have been interposed between these portionsnamely, the h'ub portion and the tire-bearing portionin various ways by which shock has g d been taken up. so

In the accompanying drawings, illustrat- -ing the invention, inthe several figures of 'which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially the plane of line `o ther.

A B of Fig. 3 and looking to the right. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section. Fig. 4 is a detail `vertical section of a portion of the hub, so called, on a larger scale.

The wheel comprises a disk 1, preferably of steel, cut out to form the spokes 2the tirereceivingrim 3, having the tire-e`ngaging flange 4.-, and the central annular' web 5. The spokes are embossed longitudinally, as at 6, in order to strengthen them. The tire 7 may loe-of solid rubber or of any other material and may be fastened to the rim of the disk by means of a flanged annulus 8, which is bolted to the disk by bolts 9 or by other means. lThe ring-shaped web 5 is connected to a sleeve 10 by means of a fia-nge 11 on said sleeve and bolts 12. This sleeve extends laterally on both sides of the disk after the manner of a hub, and, as herein shown, it is rovided with a flange 13, to which may be bolted the sprocket-wheel 14 when the wheel is used as adriving-wheel, and,- further, it may be provided with the frictionbrake surface 15. The outer end of the sleeve 10 is provided with a fiange 16 to receive the faceplate 17, which is secured thereto by bolts 18.

` A central sleeve 19 is provided to receive the axle, a portion only of Which is shown in Fig. 3, and this sleeve 19 is, in fact, an axlebox and is so referred to herein. This sleeve is interiorly finished in any suitable way-as, for example, to receive roller-bearings or shown) used in connection with the axleand it is provided with a screw-cap 20. As shown in Fig. 2, the sleeve 19 is provided exteriorly with longitudinal ribs 21, and near its rear end it is provided with a verticallyarranged flange 22. Upon this sleeve is mounted a series of compression-springs 23, preferably made as rubberrings, with basefianges 24 projecting laterally on both sides a sufficient distance to space the rings, apart -and allow them lateral spread when under compression without interfering with one an- These rings are restrained from lonitudinal movement rearwardly by means of the flange 22, and they are restrained from longitudinal movement outwardly and forwardly by means of a ring 25, screwed onto thel'sleeve 19 or otherwise removably applied thereto. y,

Between the springs and the sleeve l0 a space is left in which aniinber-say four- IOO or Segmnai blacks 2e are paesi-stains@ segmental. blocks, as shown more infiletailv -inv 4Fig. '2, vhave the longitudinal inclined cesses 27 and the side flanges 28;'and'be1 tween these lianges 28 of adjacent blocks lextend transverse ribs 29 on the springs,' so thatl A when the parts are'assembled e agement of v.the ribs 21 on the sleevelg .with comple-v,

mental recesses in the rubber s, as shown in Fig. 2, and the en agement o lthe ribs 29 i I on the springs with t e adjacent side-flanges 28 on the blocks will sufice to prevent .rotary creeping motion of the rings on the vsleeve 19.

"wenn the 'inclined 'recesses aref the blocks 26 are Aarranged tension-wedges 30,

and these tension-Wedges areproviiled with'A adjusting screws andnuts A31, supported in the face-plate 17.

The backs of the tension-wedges are provided withlongitudinal ribs 32, which .enter grooves 33 in the sleeve 10, and t ese e ements combine' 4not 'onlyto guide the blocks 30 in their adjustment, buty theyalso serve to. keep the blocks from cree ingrotarily. p

T e Jace-plate 17 overlaps the ring 25, and

thus prevents displacement of `the wheel rearwardly, and the sleeve 10 is made with an-v interior vertical 34, which cooperates with the vertical llange 22 .on'"the sleeve or axle-box 1-9 to prevent displacement in the vopposite direction.

load will be transmitted Gbviously the through the disk to the devices 30 and 26l and thence to the springs 23, and the shocks ordinarily taken up--by the pneumatic .tire will be'taken u by these springs.

While I .pre er to use the tension devices composed of the boxes 26 and 30, I/do not limit the invention to their use, and while I prefer also to use a pressed-steel. tire-recelving member, such as described, in connection with the axle-box member it is obvious that this may be replaced by a tirereceivin member of other construction.

Y It is o vious that the parts are readily accessible and every provision has been made for -ready repair.

By the construction described a relatively light and very strong and stiff'wheel is pro.- duced and one whose percentage of' useful elasticity is approximately, if not quite, equal to. the pneumatic-tire wheel, and, moreover, the wheel of the present invention isfree from da er of puncture and-collapse y andimay be use on roads of any character,

lhzvever rough.

What I claim .l

1.' lA vehicle-Wheel, comprising essentially a steel disk having a tire-receiving rim and la. central annular web, a sleevesecured to said web and extending laterally on bothsidesof and overlapp as disk; an axlebox imaged within are' 1 sleeve, 'compressio'n-springs applied externally'to said axle-box, and means for cognnectingf'the sleeve-and axle-box and for posi- .tioning and retaining thef'axle-box and springs within the sleeve; 2. A vehicle-wheel, comprising essentially a--steel disk having embossed spokes, a-tirereceiving medium and a central annular web, a sleevexed to'said web .and having'a rear ange, an axle-box arra ed in said sleeve, cbmpression-springs a pied externally to the axle-bh' andl held) from escae rearwardly by the rear flange, a face-'p ate and means to connect the face-plate to the sleeve .andaxle-box and restrain the springs from .escape forwardly.

13. vIn avehiclewheeh van axle-berna series of annular rubber springs mounted directly thereon, atire-recelving'member hav a sleeve oiv larger diameter than the rub r rings, adjusting means 4interposed between the rubber rings -anclsaid sleeve, and `means toinclose the said adjusting means andthe able tension devices interposed between the springs. and the sleeve, land means to inclose t e said springs and adjusting devices.

Gf In a vehicle-wheel, an axle-box havingavertical flange at .its rear, aseries o f annular rubbers rings mountedupon sald axle- IOO box, a face-p ate for conning said springsv on said box, a tire-receiving. member provided' with a sleeve enclrcling said s rings, and

fue

means to connect the Isleeve -andt e axle-box. f

7.. In a vehicle-wheel, an axle-box having a vertical a e latits-rear, Ja series of annular rubber'springsmo'unted u on said axlebox, a ring screwed on theax .-box to coni fine the springs between itself and the rear ange, a tire-receiving member 4provided with a sleeve encircling the said s rings and axle-box and enga ing theaxleox at theA a attached to thesleeverear, and a face-pla 'theringf 8. In a vehicIe-wheel, an axle-box having a vertical'la-nge at "its rear, a series of annular rubber springs 'mounted upon said axlebox, a ring-screwed ontheaXle-box to con- Ene the springs between itself and the -rear flange, a, tire-receiving member prvided Vmy hand this 28th day f)f'ctobelg A. D. wit-h a sleeve encircling the said springs and 1905. axle-box and having a Vertical 4'flange coacting with theange on'the axle-box at the l. CHARLES THOMAS SCHOEN' rem' or inner side of the wheel, and means -to Witnesses: v y close the front. WM.- L. AcmLLEs,

In tcstimov whereof I have hereunto set L. GRANT J. SNYDER. 

